Tskhinvali Leader Dismisses Defense Head

Kremlin-backed Tskhinvali leader Alan Gagloev dismissed the “minister of defense” Vladimir Pukhaev and “deputy minister” Igor Alborov on 12 August.

Tskhinvali-based RES cited Gagloev’s press secretary Natalya Bosikova as saying that the decision is related to the “incident involving the beating of a citizen of South Ossetia…”

The incident referred to by Bosikova was reported on in an earlier RES article which revealed that men in camouflage uniforms and masks beat up the mentioned individual on the grounds of the republican medical center in Tskhinvali region, before driving off with him in an unknown direction in official vehicles. The victim was returned to his home soon after and refused to file any charges.

Per the same article, law enforcement concluded then that the assault was related to a conflict that occurred on 23 July during a wedding in which the individual had fought with a serviceman of the “ministry of defense” who ended up in the hospital with a fractured lower jaw. The serviceman declined to file charges at the time.

The investigation remains ongoing.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)